196 COMPOSITE. 



Meadows and pastures. Aug. Ter. Stem 2 to 3 feet high, simple or often divi- 

 ded into elongated //'"'s terminal solitary. Flowers purple. Involur 

 ere scales almosl I b brown. Native of Europe, naturalized, and be- 

 coming in some pla ome weed. 



CULTIVATED SPECIES. 



3. C. cyanuis, L. Blue-Bottle. Bachelor's Button. 



Cottony-tomcntosc; tt< m erect, branched; upper leaves linear, entire ; lowermost 

 toothed or pinnatifid at base ; involucre globular; scales fringe-margined ; rays lon- 

 ger than the disk ; pappus very short. 



Common in gardens, and in some places naturalized along roadsides, <fec. July, 

 Aug. Annual. Stem 2 to o feet high. Heads in terminal peduncles; rays few, 

 gpreading, white, blue and purple; disk flowers smaller, mostly purple. Native of 

 ISurope, Justly prized for its handsome flowers which are variable in color. 



4. C Americana, Nutt. American Centaury. 



Stem erect, sulcate, sparingly branched ; lower leaves oblong-ovate, repand-den- 

 tate, upper ones lanceolate, acute, all sessile and glabrous ; heads few and solitary, 

 Tery large; peduncles thickened at summit; involucre depressed-globose, scales 

 "with a pectinate-pinnate refiexed appendage. Native in Ark. and La. Cultiva- 

 ted in gardens. Aug. — Oct. Stem 2 to 4 feet high, with very showy heads of pale" 

 purple flowers. Scales appendaged with a pinnate reflexed margin resembling the 

 teeth of a comb. 



Amberboa, De Candolle. Pappus of oblong or obovate palae. attenuated to tin base, 

 all similar, rarely small or none. 



5. C. moschata, L. Sweet Sultan. 



Leaves lyrate-dentate ; invo lucre subglobose, smooth ; scales ovate ; ray-flowers 

 scarcely enlarged, not exceeding the disk ; pappus none. A handsome border an- 

 nual from Persia, with white and pale purple, sweet-scented flowers, blooming from 

 July to Oct. 



6. C. suavolens, . Willd. (Amberboa odorata, DC.) 

 Yellow Sweet Sultan. 



Lower leaves broadly sub^patulate, dentate, upper leaves lyrate at base or scarce^ 

 ly pinnatifid ; heads globose ; ray-flowers enlarged upwards, longer than the disk ; 

 pappus chaffy, a little shorter than the fruit. Native of the Levant. Flower 

 yellow. 



53. CIBSIUM, Touto* Thistle. 



Gr.-Jcirsos, a swelled vein, for which the Thistle was a reported remedy. 



Heads niany»flowere"d; the flowers all tubular, perfect and 

 similar, or rarely dioecious. Involucre ovoid or spherical; 

 scales imbricated in many rows, tipped with a point or 

 prickle. Receptacle clothed with soft bristles or hairs. 

 Achenia oblong, flattish, not ribbed. Pappus of numerous 

 bristles united into a ring at base, plumose to the middle. — 

 Herbs ivith sessile' alternate leaves^ armed with sp inose prickles, and 

 large heads of purple or cream colored flowers terminating the 

 stem with branches. 

 * Leave* decurrsnt. 



